Where's a Girl Supposed to Get Rye Flour?

A few weeks ago after spending so much time cooking during the holidays, I got this crazy idea in my head to attempt bread baking.  Bread takes a lot of time and patience.  I have the time, but not so much patience so I figured it would be a good exercise for me.  I looked through all of my cook books and settled on a recipe for whole wheat bread in the Betty Crocker red checked cookbook that everyone's mom has.  It was a good recipe, pretty simple.  I didn't know the first thing about what I was doing though.  I had no idea what the dough would feel like when it was kneaded enough or what it would look like when it doubled in size.  The bread turned out alright for a first attempt.  It tasted good, but it was very dense and heavy.  Upon further reading, I learned that I had not let it rise properly.

For my next attempt I got too ambitious and tried sourdough bread.  Sourdough bread takes a starter.  It is a mixture of flour, water, and various types of yeast.  Most places that are famous for sourdough bread have starters that are decades or even centuries old.  I of course thought I could just whip one up and get a taste somewhere similar to that sour bite-y flavor that the bread is known for.  Again, didn't rise enough, and the flavor was pretty much that of white bread.  It made pretty good croutons though, about all that it was good for.

Attempt #3!  I was determined to come up with bread with a crunchy crust, chewy texture, and big beautiful air holes so I went digging for recipes.  I found an Alton Brown recipe that was supposed to be absolutely fool proof.  This recipe took FOREVER, three full hours of rising time not to mention resting time and almost an hour to bake.  I almost missed a hair appointment that was already about two months overdue.  This time the bread was gorgeous and the texture was almost what I was wanting!  This is the one that pretty much got me hooked.  It built up my confidence enough to make me want to try more. 

For my birthday, last weekend I got a gift card to Half Price Books and went looking for baking cookbooks.  I decided on The Bread Bible by Rose Levy Berenbaum and How to Bake by Nick Malgieri.  This whole week I have been reading recipes trying to pick my next victim, er, I mean, recipe.  I have picked out several, but first I am going to try to master a simple basic bread.  I picked "The Easiest, Best Basic Bread Recip".  Sounds like a good one, huh?

The other ones that I really want to do next are pumpernickel rye and raisin, "The Stud Muffin" (a cheesy bread that is basically a souffle that won't collapse), olive and rosemary loaf, and "Tyrolean Ten Grain Bread.  I went to the store just this afternoon to stock up on all purpose flour and bread flour.  I also grabbed malt powder and honey for a couple of the special breads.  The one thing I haven't found is rye flour.  I tried two stores already.  Whole Foods maybe?

Anyways, check back to see how the baking is going.

Slant 45

No, I am not about to tell you all about the football play used by Troy Aikman and Emmitt Smith in the 90's.  Just go with me for a minute.  My mom, Kathy, is the Director of Education at the Dallas Holocaust Museum.  Through her role of education at a museum she has become involved with Big Thought.  As part of the celebration leading up to Super Bowl XLV, the Super Bowl Committee has partnered with Big Thought to create the Slant 45 program.  Slant stands for Service Learning Adventures in North Texas.  They will be working with thousands of kids doing service projects around North Texas.

Last night my mom was invited to attend a reception to kick off tickets sales for a series of concerts that will raise money for this program.  My lovely mother chose me to go with her as her date!!  The reception was hosted by Daryl Johnston and Troy Aikman (who is really handsome in person).  There were all kinds of important people at the event, but I didn't really know who they were.  Oops.  I had to kept telling mom to , "Be Cool!!"  Apparently these two girls from The Cliff don't know how to act around such fancy people. 

Well anyway, it was a lot of fun.  Here are some pictures.  BTW, that screen they have out there at the stadium is beyond description.

This is mom with Bill Lively.  He was in charge of raising money for the AT&T Performing Arts Center, is CEO of the Super Bowl Committee, and is on the board at the Dallas Holocaust Museum.

The Beginning

On November 5th, one day after I got back from vacation I was laid off. Knowing what the job climate was like in my industry, I had been laid off after all, I was scared of what the months would hold. After about two weeks of feeling sorry for myself 24/7 and the encouragement of dear friends, I made up my mind to make the most of it. Besides being devoted to finding a job, I decided to immerse myself in doing things that I enjoy and exploring my talents.

Part of what was so frusterating was the fact that I was not accomplishing anything. At the end of each day, I had nothing to show for it. After over two months since I was laid off, I may not have a paycheck yet, but I do have many other things to show as fruits of my labor. This blog will detail a few of those things.